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Opinion

  • Kudos to council for listening

    The members of the county council should receive high praise for their decision in the bypass road.

    While there are clearly two sides to this project, it is also clear that the vast majority of residents are opposed to the plan.

    The council listened and ended the project and they should be praised for that courageous act.

    Residents packed the council chambers Monday night ready to give their view, pro and con. After a short while it was clear that the vast majority of residents there were opposed.

  • Open conference committees important

    Anyone who pays attention to the Legislature has had this experience: Differing versions of a bill pass the House and Senate; the bills go to a conference committee; the bill that comes out is very different from the two that went in.

    What happened? Hard to tell. Why? Because New Mexico is among a handful of states that close conference committee meetings. So what? Well, do you want government to conduct business in the open or behind closed doors?

  • Corrections handling 1 in 35

    The Assosicated Press had disturbing story this week. It stated that 3 percent of our fellow residents are part of the corrections system.

    That is scary.

    New Mexico has seen a steady increase in people on probation and parole in recent years, reflecting a national trend, according to a report.

    The Pew Center on the States says that nationwide, the number of people on probation or parole nearly doubled to more than 5 million between 1982 and 2007.

  • Support our sports teams

    Dear Editor,

    I am writing this letter to pass along some important information to LAMS and LAHS parents and members of the community and to request your help and support.  The LAHS Athletic Department recently learned they were accepted into the Smith’s Earn and Learn fundraising program. In talking with Vicki Nelms, LAHS athletic director, all the sports teams associated with the Los Alamos High School, as well as those associated with the Los Alamos Middle School, will benefit from this fundraising effort. 

  • TIDDS is business as usual

    Dear Editor,

    Your fine editorial on tax increment financing (Does Not Seem Like A Good Deal To Us, Sunday, March 1) did not go nearly far enough. 

    It’s time to “connect the dots,” something which Common Cause N.M. has done for us in a 2007 report on the success of the real estate development industry in obtaining public subsidies from the state. (Google Common Cause N.M. and then click on “connect the dots research.”) 

  • Letter gives honest view

    Dear Editor,

    I would like to express my appreciation to you for publishing the article entitled “What is the Right Thing” in the Monitor (Feb. 19, 2009). And I would also like to publicly express my heartfelt thanks to Jesse Taylor for the well written article.

    We need more people like that who are willing to share the facts in a courteous ad concise manner. Truth and honesty are rare virtues to be found in our present culture, but so much is needed.

    Thanks you, Jesse Taylor, and God bless you.

    Los Alamos

  • Former fetus writes to you

    Dear Editor,

    In your Editorial Feb. 6,  you said,  “There is no way that abortion should be made illegal,” and you said that people should be given the freedom of “choice.”  This means that women should have their “freedom of choice.”  The unborn babies have no “freedom of choice.” 

    As the bumper sticker says, “As a former fetus, I oppose abortion.”

  • Watchdogs are biased

    Dear Editor,

    Concerning the Feb. 22 column, “An eye for an eyeball,” – the way I see it, even the watchdog reporters can’t help the fact that they have been taught to report with a biased agenda.  

    Item: George Bush and Barrak Obama had almost identical workout regimens. Bush was reported as wasting time and worse; Obama was shown in Hawaii as an Adonis.  

  • Does not seem like a good deal to us

    What is going on? This week the New Mexico Senate gave the go-ahead for a new development on the west side of Albuquerque and the redevelopment of a mall within the city. And they approved a much smaller redevelopment project in downtown Las Cruces.

    While this may sound good, we wonder.

    The Legislature’s approval of the issuance of $408 million in bonds for SunCal’s industrial development on Albuquerque’s west mesa, and $164 million in bonds to redevelop the Winrock Mall into retail, residential and office space.

  • Yes, Tuesday is a special day

    How many of you know that Tuesday is a very unique day? The last such day was five years ago and the next one is seven years away.

    Well, Tuesday is  square root day, a humorous holiday celebrated on dates where the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits in the current year.

    For example, the last square root day was Feb. 2, 2004, (2/2/04) and the next square root day is this Tuesday, 3/3/09.

    The final square root day of the century will occur on Sept. 9, 2081.

  • Bypassing Los Alamos

    Dear Editor,

    On March 2 at 7 p.m., the county council will hold a special meeting in order to discuss the West Jemez Bypass project. Whether you are for or against the Bypass, please plan to attend this meeting in order to give your two cents worth of input to council.

  • Schools are behind Trinity Project

    Dear Editor,

    The Los Alamos Public Schools desire to enter into a joint Revitalization Project on Trinity Site in order to achieve the following for the benefit of our community:

    A) to have a steady and reliable income stream from leased land that would provide funds much needed by the school for both program and plant; and

  • Bypass road best solution

    Dear Editor,

    I am responding to a flyer posted around town, with no one claiming ownership, opposing the Bypass Road.  It has many statements that are wrong.

    First, we must realize that the probability of  a dirty bomb being detonated somewhere in the world is increasing. If that happens, NNSA will surely close West Jemez Road to through traffic. Remember, two airplanes colliding with the World Trade Center gave us NNSA’s current “large intestine.”

  • Involve the parents - or not?!

    Dear Editor,

  • Say no to the Bybass Road

    Dear Editor,

    This is close to the dumbest idea in a while.  Help local business by cutting $15 million from their property taxes over the next five years.

    Los Alamos

  • I know it when I see it

    In 1964, when the U.S. Supreme Court was reviewing an obscenity case (Jacobellis vs. Ohio), Justice Potter Stewart was asked to define pornography.  He said, “It’s hard to define, but I know it when I see it.” 

    Well now, is this true today? Obscenity has taken on many forms and one is hard pressed to not only define it, but to recognize it as such.

  • Snakes worthy of our nightmares

    Earlier this month local authorities in California warned residents that a 23-foot long python was on the loose. The 130-pound female snake, which belongs to Brandon Dennis, is large enough to eat small children.

    The enormous python was later found basking in the sun in a backyard “several blocks” from Brandon’s home.  There were no immediate reports of missing children or pets, so it’s likely the snake’s day on-the-town resulted in nothing more than heart palpitations for the neighbors.

  • Faith not a light-hearted topic

    Dear Editor,

    I could not believe my eyes upon reading a bumper sticker recently.  In fact, rather than turning, I followed behind the car to make sure I hadn’t misread it.  The bumper sticker read, “So Many Right Wing Christians, So Few Lions.”

  • Recycle wisely

    Dear Editor,

    On my walk today on Barranca Mesa there was an unusually huge number of blue recycle carts. So  I looked in about 10. There was almost nothing in most of them. Some were not quite 1/4 full. The full ones had corrugated cardboard in them. Yea!

    We need to save our county’s resources and put the carts out when mostly full. I’m hoping that since it is Presidents Day holiday that people put them out because they had nothing better to do.

    Los Alamos

  • Ed will be missed

    Dear Editor,

    It was with a certain amount of sadness, though not unexpected, that I read of Ed Grothus’ passing. I knew Ed best from the days when he had the Shalako Shop; indeed, my turquoise/silver watchband and my small turquoise/silver thunderbird bolo, both of which I’ve had since high school, came from the Shalako Shop. They have always been a tangible connection to Los Alamos no matter where I have roamed, and they remain a connection with Ed as well.